Obsessed w/Disney in OH
With hope, the imagination soars.
- Joined
- Sep 25, 1999
- Messages
- 254
The Sloneckers January Trip to DisneyChef Mickeys, AK, Fantasmic Part 5 of 8
Slonecker Family:
Russ-DH, a converted Disney fan after trip in summer of 2000
Lisa-the compulsive plannerfanatical DIS fan; been dying to go back to Disney since summer of 2000
Holly-13; wants to set a new record for the number of times on Rock n Roller; definite list of have tos and can skip attractions
Emily-10; Has enough energy and curiosity for all of us! Ready and raring to gomost excited about missing school to go to Disney
Jana-6; Says she is ready to go and see Mickey and Minnie again. Thinks shes brave enough to try Rock n Roller!
Trip:
5 nights, 5 days at Port Orleans Riverside. January 16-22
We got to the bus stop about 8am. It is getting more difficult every day to get the girls up!! (Although we get them up every school day at 5:45 amthis Disney stuff is exhausting!) We did not have to eat this morning, so that saved some time. We were the only ones on the MK bus and when we told the bus driver that we were heading to Chef Mickeys, he took us directly to the Contemporary. We were early for our psit was scheduled for 8:30 but we got right in.
This return trip to Chef Mickeys was requested by Emily, middle DD. In order for you to understand the specialness of this placeI have to tell you a quick story about our last trip. **Summer, 2000** On our last trip, Emily was very, very ill upon arrival to WDW. We think she had food poisoning. Anyway, we ended up at Urgent Care the first day, and she got a shot which eased the stomach cramps and kept liquids in her thus avoiding dehydration. However, the medicine made her extremely sleepy and we had reservations at Chef Mickeys for dinner. We decided to keep our reservations because the other girls had been so patient and wonderful through our traumatic first day. We enjoyed our dinner at Chef Mickeys while Emily slept in the corner on the floor covered by a tablecloth that our wonderful waitress brought to us!! Poor thing! As it ended up, she woke up and we ended up going to MK to E-night and she went strong until 2am! She recovered with no complications and enjoyed the rest of the trip**
So, here we were returning to Chef Mickeys, so Emily could enjoy it this time! As the hostess led us to our table, I noticed we were heading in the same direction that we sat that summer of 2000. Sure enough, she led us to the exact same table!! Too funnywe got a laugh out of that!! We saw the characters, danced the napkins dance, and ate a good breakfast. Crispy Creme donuts!! YUM!!
After breakfast, we caught the bus from the Contemporary to AK. We got right to the safari and it said 20 minute stand-by wait. We joined the linewe were on the vehicle in less than 20 minutes. We enjoyed this as always. I thought, however, that maybe the animals would be more active since it was cooler than summer, but while we saw a lotthey werent that active.
We headed to Lion King. Holly and Emily went for FPs for Dinosaur while Jana and I visited with some characters(YESI had her autograph book this time!
). Jana and I got seats for the Lion King, and Russ and girls joined us. This is such a great show. I especially enjoy the acrobatshow they do that in that small of an area is amazing. Holly and Emily went on Dinosaur while Jana and I watched Pocohontas. This was cutejust OK. Are those REAL mice that go across the log? YEW!! 
We met up in Dinolandsaw Tigger, Pooh, and Piglet. The girls did the Boneyard play area and we checked out food options. We decided to just do a snack instead of a meal. I had brought some things and we decided McDs fries would add just the right thing! Jana and Russ rode on Tricera-tops. This is just like Dumbo. As we waited for them, I wondered why Disney would build another ride like Dumbonow they have Tricera-tops and Aladdins carpet and these are such slow loading rides. Why would they do this??
We also checked out the new roller coasterPrimeval Whirl. They were working on it and the sign said slated to open March, 2002. This looks like it will be a lot of fun when it is completed!! (Next trip! ) After a quick snack break, we headed to Tough to be a Bug. We got to the waiting area underground and they kept packing in and packing in people. They asked everybody to squeeze together and they packed in more people. Then, we stood there for 15 minutes. This was very annoying. I think this is one of the downfalls of off-season touring. Things are just not as efficient as on-season when the demands are up. I still do NOT like this show!! Too scary, too short, too buggy!!!!!!!
It was 75-80*, and the girls convinced me it was warm enough to go on Kalis River Rapids. I didnt want everyone to get wet since we wanted to go to Fantasmic tonight. butguess who got the wettest?? Jana, Emily, and Iugh!
We tried to dry off-went in the restroom to wring out our shorts and headed for a spot in the parade. Found a stone wall to stake out for the parade and Russ sat while we walked in some shops and tried to dry off. Earlier in the day, a roving photographer had taken Janas picture with Minnie. She just wanted to see it, but wouldnt beg to buy it. Well, needless to say, $13 later, we had a picture of Jana and Minnie. This really is a racket...
We also liked this Jammin' Jungle Parade. I would describe it as energetic, colorful, and lively. It was fun. We headed to the bus stopwe were the only ones on the bus. We decided to head to POR to change into dry clothesthere was no hope of drying off and/or sitting through Fantasmic with damp clothes. But, we were pushed for timeit sure takes a long time to get back from AK. We prepared everyone for a really, really quick stop in the room for dry clothes. We were in and out in 5 minutes. We ran to the bus stop as the MGM bus pulled upwe had good timing.
We were the only ones on the bus AGAIN!
We headed into MGM and to Fantasmic ASAP. We did not get in the Mickey section but the next section overScar, I think. It was fine. We got some foodhotdogs. We had packed drinks and soon it was time to start.
We had seen Fantasmic before, but this was even better than the last time. Still a little too scary, I think, but so many great effects. There seemed to be even more images projected on the water screen which never ceases to amaze me. We shopped a little and headed back. This time, we shared the bus with only one other family. It was fun to talk to them. We headed to the food court and ordered a pizza. It was delicious.
We looked around in the store for souvenirs and went to bed with visions of continuing our tour of MGM tomorrow!!
Slonecker Family:
Russ-DH, a converted Disney fan after trip in summer of 2000
Lisa-the compulsive plannerfanatical DIS fan; been dying to go back to Disney since summer of 2000
Holly-13; wants to set a new record for the number of times on Rock n Roller; definite list of have tos and can skip attractions
Emily-10; Has enough energy and curiosity for all of us! Ready and raring to gomost excited about missing school to go to Disney
Jana-6; Says she is ready to go and see Mickey and Minnie again. Thinks shes brave enough to try Rock n Roller!
Trip:
5 nights, 5 days at Port Orleans Riverside. January 16-22
We got to the bus stop about 8am. It is getting more difficult every day to get the girls up!! (Although we get them up every school day at 5:45 amthis Disney stuff is exhausting!) We did not have to eat this morning, so that saved some time. We were the only ones on the MK bus and when we told the bus driver that we were heading to Chef Mickeys, he took us directly to the Contemporary. We were early for our psit was scheduled for 8:30 but we got right in.
This return trip to Chef Mickeys was requested by Emily, middle DD. In order for you to understand the specialness of this placeI have to tell you a quick story about our last trip. **Summer, 2000** On our last trip, Emily was very, very ill upon arrival to WDW. We think she had food poisoning. Anyway, we ended up at Urgent Care the first day, and she got a shot which eased the stomach cramps and kept liquids in her thus avoiding dehydration. However, the medicine made her extremely sleepy and we had reservations at Chef Mickeys for dinner. We decided to keep our reservations because the other girls had been so patient and wonderful through our traumatic first day. We enjoyed our dinner at Chef Mickeys while Emily slept in the corner on the floor covered by a tablecloth that our wonderful waitress brought to us!! Poor thing! As it ended up, she woke up and we ended up going to MK to E-night and she went strong until 2am! She recovered with no complications and enjoyed the rest of the trip**
So, here we were returning to Chef Mickeys, so Emily could enjoy it this time! As the hostess led us to our table, I noticed we were heading in the same direction that we sat that summer of 2000. Sure enough, she led us to the exact same table!! Too funnywe got a laugh out of that!! We saw the characters, danced the napkins dance, and ate a good breakfast. Crispy Creme donuts!! YUM!!
After breakfast, we caught the bus from the Contemporary to AK. We got right to the safari and it said 20 minute stand-by wait. We joined the linewe were on the vehicle in less than 20 minutes. We enjoyed this as always. I thought, however, that maybe the animals would be more active since it was cooler than summer, but while we saw a lotthey werent that active.
We headed to Lion King. Holly and Emily went for FPs for Dinosaur while Jana and I visited with some characters(YESI had her autograph book this time!
). Jana and I got seats for the Lion King, and Russ and girls joined us. This is such a great show. I especially enjoy the acrobatshow they do that in that small of an area is amazing. Holly and Emily went on Dinosaur while Jana and I watched Pocohontas. This was cutejust OK. Are those REAL mice that go across the log? YEW!! We met up in Dinolandsaw Tigger, Pooh, and Piglet. The girls did the Boneyard play area and we checked out food options. We decided to just do a snack instead of a meal. I had brought some things and we decided McDs fries would add just the right thing! Jana and Russ rode on Tricera-tops. This is just like Dumbo. As we waited for them, I wondered why Disney would build another ride like Dumbonow they have Tricera-tops and Aladdins carpet and these are such slow loading rides. Why would they do this??
We also checked out the new roller coasterPrimeval Whirl. They were working on it and the sign said slated to open March, 2002. This looks like it will be a lot of fun when it is completed!! (Next trip!
) After a quick snack break, we headed to Tough to be a Bug. We got to the waiting area underground and they kept packing in and packing in people. They asked everybody to squeeze together and they packed in more people. Then, we stood there for 15 minutes. This was very annoying. I think this is one of the downfalls of off-season touring. Things are just not as efficient as on-season when the demands are up. I still do NOT like this show!! Too scary, too short, too buggy!!!!!!!It was 75-80*, and the girls convinced me it was warm enough to go on Kalis River Rapids. I didnt want everyone to get wet since we wanted to go to Fantasmic tonight. butguess who got the wettest?? Jana, Emily, and Iugh!
We tried to dry off-went in the restroom to wring out our shorts and headed for a spot in the parade. Found a stone wall to stake out for the parade and Russ sat while we walked in some shops and tried to dry off. Earlier in the day, a roving photographer had taken Janas picture with Minnie. She just wanted to see it, but wouldnt beg to buy it. Well, needless to say, $13 later, we had a picture of Jana and Minnie. This really is a racket...We also liked this Jammin' Jungle Parade. I would describe it as energetic, colorful, and lively. It was fun. We headed to the bus stopwe were the only ones on the bus. We decided to head to POR to change into dry clothesthere was no hope of drying off and/or sitting through Fantasmic with damp clothes. But, we were pushed for timeit sure takes a long time to get back from AK. We prepared everyone for a really, really quick stop in the room for dry clothes. We were in and out in 5 minutes. We ran to the bus stop as the MGM bus pulled upwe had good timing.
We were the only ones on the bus AGAIN! We headed into MGM and to Fantasmic ASAP. We did not get in the Mickey section but the next section overScar, I think. It was fine. We got some foodhotdogs. We had packed drinks and soon it was time to start.
We had seen Fantasmic before, but this was even better than the last time. Still a little too scary, I think, but so many great effects. There seemed to be even more images projected on the water screen which never ceases to amaze me. We shopped a little and headed back. This time, we shared the bus with only one other family. It was fun to talk to them. We headed to the food court and ordered a pizza. It was delicious.
We looked around in the store for souvenirs and went to bed with visions of continuing our tour of MGM tomorrow!!
She even came and did the napkin dance with youngest DD. Mickey, Minnie, Chip and Dale came to the table. Goofy was available at the entrance. 
